


A Halloween Cat

by angelsfalling16



Series: Halloween Ficlets [6]
Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Simon brings home a cat, SnowBaz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 18:09:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21275489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelsfalling16/pseuds/angelsfalling16
Summary: A cat followed me home and won’t leave me alone even when I put a little hat on it so I guess I have a cat now AU





	A Halloween Cat

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wrote part of this one yesterday, but since it was set on November 1st anyway, I decided to wait and finish it today.

**Simon**

I open my apartment door and immediately scowl when I see who it is.

“What do you want, Baz?”

“It’s the first of the month. I came to see how things were doing.”

“You mean you came to search for a reason to get me kicked out.”

“Perhaps.” The curl of his lips is more irritating than usual. I wish he would leave.

“What if I don’t allow you to come in. You aren’t technically my landlord.”

“Then I’ll go get my father.”

I glare at him. The only person I like less than Baz Pitch is his father. I wish I didn’t have to put up with either, but I don’t really have a choice since I both live and work in the apartment building that the Grimm family owns.

I’m about to tell Baz to screw off when there’s a soft mew behind me. I wince, knowing I’m really in trouble now.

“Wait, do you have a cat in here?”

“Of course not,” I say unconvincingly. “That’s just a decoration.”

“It’s walking around.”

I try to close the door a bit more, which is made difficult by the fact that I’m standing in the way, but it’s too late anyway.

“Very life-like, right? Best fifty dollars I’ve ever spent.”

He looks at me with a disbelieving expression. He’s not buying any of it.

I sigh, opening the door to allow Baz to get a better look. “Fine. She followed me home and wouldn’t leave me alone. It’s supposed to snow. What was I going to do? Leave her out there?”

“You aren’t supposed to have any pets in your apartment.”

“Are you going to tell your father on me?”

His father owns the building. It’s part of why Baz irritates me so much. I can barely afford to live here, and he practically gets to live here for free. Plus, he feels like he can boss me around and show up at my apartment whenever he feels like it. If he weren’t so good-looking, I’d hate him even more, but as it is, I’ve fallen for the guy over the past year and a half that I’ve been living here.

“Maybe.”

“Come on. Come meet her and you’ll see why I couldn’t leave her out there. She’s so sweet.”

“Fine,” he says grudgingly. “But only so I can tell my father everything about the cat.”

I frown at him, but I knew that I wouldn’t be allowed to keep her. I lead him inside my apartment and call for the cat, who seems to have hidden when I had my back turned.

“Pumpkin,” I sing-song in a soft voice. “I want you to meet someone.”

“Really? You named the cat _Pumpkin_?”

I shrug. “She showed up the day before Halloween. What else was I supposed to name her?”

“Something better than that.”

“It’s not like it matters. I won’t be able to keep her anyway,” I say bitterly before ducking underneath the coffee table to snatch her up.

**Baz**

Simon stands up, cradling a small cat in his arms, wearing an adorably tiny witch’s hat on her head. She’s barely bigger than a kitten and almost does look like a Halloween decoration. My heart melts as I watch Simon gently pet her, talking softly to her. I can see how much he already cares for her.

“Would you like to old her?” Simon asks, turning those blue eyes on me. The cat looks up, too, giving me an eerily similar look to the one that Simon is giving me.

It’s a soft and pleading expression. Both of them appear to be begging me not to kick them out, and I feel myself start to give in.

“Um.” I would love to, but I don’t want Simon to think that I’m going soft. “I suppose.”

As soon as the cat settles in my arms, snuggling its little head into the crook of my arm, I know that there’s no way that I can get it kicked out. I would protect her with my life. I pet her gently, and her eyes fall shut. She’s beautiful.

Simon clears his throat, and I jump, nearly dropping the cat. I’ve been quiet for a long time, and I almost forgot he was standing there, watching me.

I let Simon take the cat back from me, and I fold my arms over my chest.

“I’m going to go talk to my father.”

“No,” Simon says quickly. The cat jumps from his arms and runs off as if it knows that I’m here to take it away. “Baz, you can’t do that. He’ll kick us both out.”

“I won’t let him do that. I’m going to tell him that the cat should stay.”

His eyes widen, and he looks stunned. “Wait, really?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you!” He shouts. He looks like he wants to throw his arms around me, and I’m both relieved and disappointed when he doesn’t.

Part of the reason I’m doing this is for Simon, but I’m also doing it for myself. I’m open to any opportunity that will allow me to spite my father.

He wants me to take over management of this building whenever he opens the new one, but this is not what I want to do with my life. I’ve told him this several times before, but he refuses to hear me. Maybe something like this will make him listen, make him see that I’m not interested in doing things his way.

Simon would probably be interested in something like this. Plus, I know he’d be good at it. I hate that Simon seems perfectly suited to manage this place because it’s one thing that I can’t do.

My father knows that he’s an exemplary employee, but he wants to keep the building in the family. If I married Simon, he’d probably qualify as family. Then, he could manage the apartment building, and I could take a different job.

Ha. As if. I haven’t even managed to ask Simon out on a date yet, and if I did marry a guy, my father would probably disown me, which is why I’ve got to find some alternative way of living. My father thinks that my main focus at the university has been business, but I’m actually doing a double major so that I can focus on literature. I think I want to teach it, just like my mother did, but I’ve never told my father that.

This is my chance to make a difference. Tell him that things have to change because I won’t be happy with a job like this. It isn’t going to happen instantly, but right now, I’m going to start with the cat.

I’ll start by changing his rules in the building, and then I’ll start build onto that. Tell him what kind of job I really want and maybe even ask Simon on a date.

I know Simon thinks I hate him, but it isn’t true. When my father wanted me to take on the care of some of the tenants, I initially refused. But when I realized I could choose which ones I spoke to, I agreed to it, but only if Simon was one of them.

It gives me an excuse to visit him, even if it is under the pretense of checking out his apartment. (Even though I’m checking him out way more often.)

I’ve managed to get to know Simon better, but I’ve also managed to make him hate me. Just like things with my father, I want to try to change that. And even if things don’t go my way, at least I’ll be able to say that I finally stood up for myself and took a step towards the life that I want.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween :)


End file.
